of the antlered dragon
by Fee-o-Verte
Summary: The usual happens and an unsuspecting person (an OC in this case) is inserted, well reborn to be truthful, in Robert Baratheon. Story starts near the end of Robert's Rebellion. The reader is invited to indulge in the mayhem that follows. WIP, Sporadic Updates, AU For all the tags go to AO3, the story has the same name
1. I

_The second of my WIPs I will share. This one is older than the other one, but I've found myself adjusting detail after detail in the first few chapter. As this won't help the story to progress at all, I've decided to post it._

 _Cross posted on AO3 under the same name, if you want all the tags for the story, go there._

 _Tags: sporadic updates, GOT level of violence possible, alternate universe, non-straight characters_

 _Edited: 20.01.2019_

I.

One never forgot one's past. But humans were always fast to adapt. That was the conclusion Robert had after living almost twenty-one – one-and-twenty as the locals say – years in Westeros. He had adapted (mostly) to being an heir to a Great House, then lord paramount, then being named King. He had adapted to the language and the power his station brought. And soon he would sit on the Iron Throne and rule the Seven Kingdoms, which meant having even more power.

Fate, he thought, followed the plans laid out by GRRM, or else Rhaegar would be King. And Elia, Rhaenys and Aegon would not lie dead before Robert. Damn that wound he received in the last battle to the Seven Hells. He looked at Tywin Lannister, who looked smug in a very understated way - of course. Robert made an effort to look calm, he could not show the fury coursing through him, not yet.

Who was here? Tywin, Jaime and a small group of Lannister soldiers. None of them big enough to be the Mountain. Robert himself obviously and eight of his best men, Jon Arryn and less than ten of his guards, and Ned, looking rather furious, with his men - more than twenty. Good, very good.  
"Could someone please explain this situation to me?"

Both Ned and Tywin opened their mouths, but Ned spoke faster.

"The Lannisters sacked King's Landing. Ser Jaime killed the Mad King and some bannermen of Lord Tywin killed the princess and her babes." Ah, that didn't change then. „He said..." Ned needed to take some deep breaths at this point, he seemed to shake from rage.

"I'm sure Lord Tywin can speak for himself Ned. Lord Tywin?" Robert looked Tywin directly in the eyes, would he dare?

"A gift for you, my King." He would. He just said that. A gift, and that small self-satisfied smirk. What had ridden this man to make that gamble? Robert knew he was very different from the Robert Baratheon that GRRM had written and Tywin still presented him with the corpses of small children.

The terrible fury inside Robert reared its head. He restrained himself. Walked slowly towards Tywin. The smirk did not disappear, Tywin did not know yet what a horrible decision he just made.

As soon as Robert was near enough to Tywin he drew his dagger, quick as always. In a flash he had the dagger to Tywin's throat. The smirk was finally gone. He heard and saw many swords being drawn. Jaime, who was nearest to Robert, had drawn his sword as well.

"Ser Jaime, not a move or your father will be dead, and you soon after. Jon, Ned please arrest all the Lannisters." Ned looked relieved, Jon, on the other hand, confused and - if Robert had to categorize the emotion - lightly unhappy. This was concerning, hopefully it would nor bite him in the ass. (It would, Robert knew from experience.)

The arrest went better than Robert had ever dared to hope. And soon Tywin and Jaime were confined in the Maidenvault, unarmed and under heavy guard (none of them being from the Vale). After inquiring who had killed Elia and her children Robert sent many men to arrest or kill them. Both the Mountain and Loch were killed after resisting the arrest, and three men of Robert were killed and four more injured while trying to kill the Mountain.

* * *

After that was done and he had sent some men to sort out the Lannister army Robert signed Ned, who stayed with Robert the whole time, to follow him and sent someone to fetch Jon, who had disappeared at some point, and someone to organise some food and drink for them.

"You will go and search for Lyanna soon?" He asked Ned.

"Yes, I plan to in the next few days, there are some hints as to where she is held."

"Good, I will send some of my men with you, good fighters who can ride fast, and Maester Corlys and a chest."

"I see." Ned had at least an inkling of what Robert tried to imply, that Robert saw.

"We will need to talk about it more, but not here." Robert made a gesture in the direction of the servants bringing in drink and food, Ned would understand.

They were eating silently as Jon appeared. Who talked even before he was seated.

"Have your wits left you, Robert, what were you thinking. You have arrested a Lord Paramount, and without reason, even."

What? Without reason? Robert had many reasons for what he did, it was exactly what he had planned for, in the case exactly this situation would ever come to pass. But Jon was not done yet.

"They were only the wife and children of your rival. Let them go. Sure, there will be a disagreement with Dorne that way, but better an angry Dorne than Westerlands."

Robert raises his hand and Jon stops. Only the wife and children of his cousin? No! They were his blood, his family!

"Jon stop, do you not hear what hogwash you talk? They were royalty, of royal blood and Tywin is a mere lord paramount. A lord paramount cannot judge royalty, and a lord paramount harming someone of royal blood with intent and malice outside of a duel or battlefield… That will always be a crime. Always, Jon. And besides I have told everyone, several times and with great emphasis, that my quarrel was with Aerys and only Aerys."

At this point Jon interrupted him. "Robert, you fought against the Targaryens, it does not matter what pretty worlds you use. It has always been clear to everyone."

"That is what you think, but my words were and are true. If Rhaegar would have declared against Aerys I would have joined him. He knew that, Rhaegar made it very clear that he acted in Aerys stead which was why I duelled him. And now even more of my family is dead, and all because some upstart lord paramount and his treacherous son who abandoned not only his King but the whole royal family."

They were his family, he did not speak in jest, and it really was a huge mistake on Tywin's part. Something that Robert planned to capitalize to get rid of that too dangerous lion.

"And besides it robbed me of the opportunity to wed them to my future children."

That left Jon aghast. And Ned looked a little flabbergasted too.

Jon spoke again: "Robert, you cannot mean that, you would not have married them to your own children."

Oh Jon, of course Robert would have, well mayhaps not if they proved to be insane as some Targaryens are wont to be, but if they would have been sane? Of course he would have joined his blood to Rhaegar's in that instance.

"Jon, I know I did not tell you of this plan, it was not safe to do so in letters. But this is exactly what I was going to do if they had lived. In fact, if Rhaegar had had a sister-wife I would have wed her, if Rhaella was a little younger and more fertile I would wed her. Gods, if there was one woman close to my age with more Targaryen blood than me, I would wed her. Sadly, there is no one, mayhaps I should adopt my grandmothers name and flag – Robert Targaryen – that sounds not bad... Or mayhaps I marry just a woman of Valyrian get. Or both."

The Iron Throne was a concept that was deeply entrenched to Targaryen rule, if Robert wanted his descendants to have any legitimacy to rule, they needed as much Targaryen blood as possible.

"Ah. Jon, Ned, you know I am only a candidate for King because my grandmother was a Targaryen and because the Baratheons are a cadet branch to the Targaryens. And well, I have even more Targaryen blood, just as the rumours say..."

Robert even had the documents to prove his last two statements, the archives of Storms End were very good and informative.

"Without that none of the Seven Kingdoms would have named me King after Rhaegar died."

Ned looked thoughtful but accepting of Roberts reasoning. The Starks had ruled the North not that differently than the Targaryens, than Valyrians, would. Which was probably one reason why they were able to bend the knee to them, if he thought about it. But like when Robert ordered the arrest of Tywin and Jaime, it was Jon who gave Robert pause. Jon looked shocked and pale, which wasn't in character at all – both from what Robert knew of the books and what he had observed himself while being a ward at the Eyrie. Robert needed some time to think about it, but he feared that Jon could not become his Hand. Robert could not trust a man who did not believe his word, and who thought it was acceptable to kill of parts of Robert's family just because they seemed to be a little in the way. And it was not just Robert, Ned too looked at Jon like, well, like he had never seen him before.

After some time, Jon spoke anew. "I see. I thank you for your time and the meal, Robert, but I fear that the day has been a bit much, I will need to lie down. I hope you will understand that." After he spoke he stood up and went.

"This was strange, do you think so too?" Robert asked Ned.

"Yes, very strange. And I really should have foreseen your plans, it is the way your house has been founded aft all. And the way my forefathers conquered new territories. Kill the males and marry the females."

Robert chuckled, nothing better than being with friends to lift one's spirits. "Valyrians do it only a little bit differently. Kill as much as needed until they submit, then marry as many as you can. But I fear that this is not the way to do things in Westeros. Hmm, or this way is at least the way to do things if the enemy is not considered family. If the enemy is family… Well, then you only kill one person ideally. Which in our cause would have meant a duel between me and Aerys. And to cement the victory the winner would need to marry at least one person as closely related to the looser... Not that any of our branches have many people to marry at the moment." And now Robert was sad and furious again, what a truly marvellous day.

They stayed silent for the rest of the meal, then they walked from the room they dined in towards their current quarters. While they crossed a courtyard big enough that all eavesdropping would be more than obvious, Robert stopped.

"This is about the Maester and the chest you want to send with me when I go." Ned said to Robert, having clearly waited to say it until they were alone, and it was safe to talk about secrets.

"Yes, you and I both know that Rhaegar and Lyanna were long enough together in one place for Lyanna to be pregnant by now."

"She could have already delivered a child, I know."

"We don't know, but I would feel better if there was a Maester nearby, just in case. He is trustworthy, he cared for me after Rhaegar wounded me."

"It is probably for the best to have a Maester at hand. The additional men are for fighting the King's Guard, but what is so special about this chest?"

"The chest is not special, but it is less risky to talk about a chest than the letters I locked inside. Those letters will prove that I never meant harm to anyone other than Aerys, I hope it will convince the King's Guard to listen and survive. There is one sealed letter by my hand which offers them my terms for their surrender and my intent to protect my little cousin – your niece or nephew – like they are my own child."

"I will talk to them and they will surely listen to me." Ned was young, but everyone knew of his honour, they would hopefully trust his word. Ned looked intently at Robert, the next part must be important.

"Why did you never mention my sister when you talked about marriage for yourself?"

Oh, yes, that... 'Because she won't survive the birthing bed and I know that because I'm a reincarnation' did not sound good. Luckily Robert had some sound reasons.

"If Lyanna loved Rhaegar and went willingly, then I'm the man who killed her love. If she was forcefully taken, then I don't want to be the second man to take her away from home and family. If she would want to marry me still, I would take her, but only if it was her wish."

He did not want to marry and bed a woman who had been raped if she didn't gave her free consent (which was another reason why he would not marry Rhaella), nor did he want to force himself on a woman whose husband or lover he had killed.

"As a brother, I am relieved to hear that. She is my sister and I want her as happy as possible."

"Something which I was never able to do."

"You tried to do it, my friend."

And Robert had, truly he did, GRRM's Robert had sired several bastards by this point in time. He had not, nor was he known for sleeping around, and he tried to get to know Lyanna. They had become friendly before the tourney at Harrenhall, but Lyanna still went with Rhaegar. And Robert did think she went willingly, he had seen her crushing on the prince and knew her enough to know how much the wolf's blood affected her.

Or mayhaps she had seen how attracted Robert was to other men. Which was a ludicrous idea, he was very, very careful to not let anyone know that the men interested him more than the women – what had he been on the Kinsey scale? Four point five or five? Well, about there. Life in Westeros was certainly more than a little difficult, but he was constantly adapting and coping.


	2. II

_Tags at the beginning of the story, and on AO3._

 _Edited: 20.01.2019_

II.

Saying farewell to Ned the next morning was the only calm moment Robert had for the next few days. There were so many things that needed to be watched, that needed to be done. He wrote letter after letter, sometimes he had to confirm some numbers or a ledger, and he had to talk to the High Septon and others about his rise to the throne.

Then his spies found enough evidence to convict Pycelle and not just for opening the gates to the Lannister soldiers. Which meant luring him into a trap, waiting until he was right there and trying to free Tywin and then arrest him too. And now Robert needed to write to the Citadel that they needed a new Grand Maester, they would surely like that very much (not).

And every day Robert waited for some important messages from his brothers, from Ned, from Dragonstone or from Dorne.

He heard from Dragonstone first, they needed proof of his claims to not hurt them before they would ever consider his offer to return to the Red Keep.

Then from his brothers, who were coming to him – to King's Landing – after the siege was lifted, thank all the gods. His brothers were alive and were coming. But the Reach would need to pay for the suffering of his closest family. Another thing to plan and to organise.

Then from Doran who gave world that they would send an emissary to King's Landing. Robert hoped that Doran would not allow Oberyn to come. Or mayhaps... It would be good to have as many representatives of other lord paramounts and lord protectors as possible at court, for Robert's coronation and for Tywin's trial before that. Better to have them swear their oaths as soon as possible, if they decided to drag the whole process out... Oh, by the gods, that meant Robert had to write some more letters, fun.

After Robert had heard back from most of the great lords of the realm and message had been sent than Cersei and Tyrion Lannister were only a week or so away from King's Landing a letter came from Ned. Robert read it as fast as possible.

 _To King Robert,_

 _Lyanna was at the Tower of Joy near the dornish border, we arrived only hours before she birthed a healthy son. Jaehaerys Targaryen, legitimate heir to Rhaegar Targaryen as Rhaegar set aside Elia and married Lyanna. The present members of the King's Guard (Dayne, Hightower, Whent) can swear to this. Lyanna did not survive the birthing bed, the Maester was able to give her a few more days with us, but she is dead since today. We will ride first to Starfall to acquire a nursemaid, then to King's Landing._

 _Your friend,_

 _Ned_

In smaller letters the sentence 'Hightower and some of your men ride directly to King's Landing.' was added to a corner of the letter.

Well fuck. Robert sat down, he would need some time to stomach that. He had hoped that the Maester would be able to save Lyanna. On the other hand, baby Jon – Jaehaerys – was alive and truly the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, and the three King's Guard members were all alive. Robert had managed to save at least some people, which was something good, he supposed. And now he needed to write even more letters to announce the birth of Jaehaerys to the world.

Robert wondered how Jaehaerys would look like here, in a world where the family magic knew that Jaehaerys would be known to all as a member of the Targaryen family. Still more Stark than Targaryen? Unlikely, every trueborn Targaryen bore their Valyrian looks - Robert had consulted the book fairly early in this life, interested to know what was the same as canon, and what was different. And one key difference seemed to be that the family magic was stronger than in canon (if it existed there at all). No born member of a family would not look like their ancestors did (Cersei cuckolding her husband would never work - everybody would know).

He looked up as he had heard someone knock. "Come in." He called out. And saw that the Guards (not one of the King's Guard, not yet) stationed in his solar shifted, good! The realm may be more or less at peace, but danger was still there. Would always be there!

It was Jon Arryn. Hopefully this would go better than their last interactions…

"Jon, be welcome."

"Good day, Robert. Do you have time for me?"

Jon sounded… Normal, like he did in the Eyrie when he had to talk to him or Eddard about governing and managing a Holdfast and the surrounding land. Robert had had much more of them that Ned, as he was the heir to a Lord Paramountcy. Which reminded him, he would need to talk to Ned when he came back, in canon he had managed to rule to the North, but Robert still wanted to offer his help. Maybe they could develop a habit of writing letters to each other regularly? Ned was a dear and true friend, Robert would hate if they were to drift apart.

"Of course. What do you wish to discuss?"

"The coronation and the small council. I wanted to ask if you know already who will sit on it."

That was almost a neutral theme to speak about, good. And the papers were sitting on the top of that pile of papers…

"Well, I thought to hold the coronation on the first day of the new year. A new year, a new King. It should be enough time for every major lord to come and swear fealty too."

Jon seemed surprised by Robert's statement. Why was that a surprise to Jon? Robert felt out of his depth here, he had thought he got Jon. But now? Robert couldn't place Jon. Which was a dangerous thing… He grew up here, with that man… Was it that Robert was now in a place of power? The struggle of a father figure to accept that his son was an adult and capable of his own decisions?

"That sounds like a good idea. Two and a half moonturns to prepare for a coronation."

Jon became silent, obviously waiting for Robert to name the new hand and new members of the council. What he had planned there was more difficult to explain.

"I thought about making more than one council." Robert looked down (he had made bullet points!), if he wanted to explain his idea in detail he would need the help.

"Robert? You can't do that!"

"Jon?" Robert jerked his head up to look at Jon in surprise. But Jon was not looking at him, he was shaking his head with his brows furrowed.

"What next? Do you want to build a better smelling city out of marble? Or water Dorne through underground canals?"

What? Had he felt out of his depth before? Not in comparison to now! Robert knew that there was something huge he was missing, but what?

"Do you want my honest thoughts on that Jon?"

"Yes!" The fuck? Could Jon sound even more condescending and exasperated?

"That the rebellion even happened means that there need to be changes to the ruling system, and I will make those!" Robert began, speaking angrily and fast. He would not get interrupted by a mere Lord Paramount again, father figure or not!

"Your first suggestion is not worth anything. A good way to get rid of the stink in this city would be to repair the old canalisation. Some other measures will surely help too. And yes! I have plans for that, thanks to the Lannisters the city needs to be rebuilt in places. That is an opportunity I will take."

Seeing his guards having their hand on their swords – in preparation for what? – allowed Robert to calm down a bit and try to wrangle the anger in him back to a normal level.

"But I have never thought about your second suggestion… Is that even possible? Hmm… It would need to be the Torrentine, but why underground canals? Above ground is as good… Well, if that's important to you, Jon, I will send some Maesters to cartograph the region…"

Making Dorne (especially northern Dorne) a more productive region could have benefits. But if the crown was financing something like that all the other regions would need similar investments…

"All in all, that would be a project to be done in several years. Not now!"

"And I guess you won't be letting Tywin Lannister go?"

The fuck? Speaking with Jon was like speaking with a madman!

"I have said everything about that I needed or wanted to say. All Lannisters in King's Landing killed members of the royal family or sacked the capital illegally, for that they will die!"

Luckily for Robert's temper, that ended their talk.

* * *

This night Robert had a dream he was actually able to remember, a rarity in his life.

 _After the Dance we knew we must change, we had become too much like the Westerosi. Our family tearing itself apart, our dragons gone…_

This is how one of the stories his mother and grandmother told him began. And there was another, he had dreamed of it too, which was only told to him by his mother, a more personal one, not one about Valyrian customs and culture 101 (as he had called those lessons and stories in his youth).

 _And then, after the Blackfires, we knew there must be a rule to deal with bastards of the family. That was when they remembered fully that there were other Valyrian houses in Westeros…_

But why would he dream of those time now? What was he doing that his subconscious needed to churn through by giving him dreams?

Was he steering away from the course his ancestors set after those incidents? That couldn't be it… He was always conscious to remember the rules and plans of the family. But what then?

* * *

The arrival of Tyrion and Cersei Lannister was a relatively calm affair. They were both visibly shaken, and fearful of him, but they accepted Guest Right with no complain or plea to let their family go.

Robert had arranged for him to have some time to talk to them. Telling them that he would ensure that Cersei would not end up in a marriage to a man below her in rank. That Tyrion would become a ward of the crown until he was old enough to become Lord of Casterly Rock and Lord Paramount of the West, and that Robert would ensure that Tyrion have a marriage befitting of his rank too. And that they would lose a huge part of their family.

It was a long, difficult and exhausting talk. But it was a necessary one.

* * *

The next arrival was a much livelier affair. Robert's brother had finally come, together with Hightower and half the retinue Robert had sent to Dorne and 5'000 men of the army Robert had sent south as soon as he had been able to do so, to ensure that the Siege was lifted. Going to King's Landing with only a quarter of his army (and sending less men south than the Reach had amassed) had been a gamble on Robert's part, to tell the truth…

The Reachers were not coming, not yet, which was their luck, had they come… Robert did not know what he would have done to them, his brothers had not been touched by battle, but they were so thin… His little brothers looking so frail…

The feast Robert threw in their name calmed him down a little, seeing them eat even more.

The Reach would suffer none the less, how could he spin it? What would be too harsh? At the end they had surrendered, very late, but to an army smaller than theirs…

But today was not a day to think about that, this evening Robert would bask in the presence of his little brothers.

* * *

Later in the night, after the feast, when Robert was about to go into his sleeping chambers to finally going to sleep, a guard just had to give him a message that Hightower awaited Robert in his solar.

Robert sent the guard to Hightower to say he would come shortly. But first he would need to freshen up some, he had not drunken much, but he felt sweaty and his head was hot. And the talk with Hightower could go on for a long time.

"Lord Commander." Robert greeted Hightower not even half an hour later.

"Am I still the Lord Commander, Lord Robert?"

Lord Robert? Huh… Yes, this talk would take a long time, hopefully nobody would be dead in the end, neither from force nor from tiredness.

"Yes, you are. I have given you Guest Right and not taken your white cloak, nor your command. And I don't plan on doing that."

"Well, then Lord Robert, …" Hightower was enjoying that, wasn't he? "Let's talk."

Now all humour – a mask? – disappeared from Hightower's face.

"Do you swear that the letters in the chest you sent with Eddard Stark to us are not forgeries?"

"This I swear on the old gods and the new gods."

"Then it is true." Hightower looked crushed and Robert had the strangest urge to give him a hug.

"Aye, I asked Rhaegar even on the battlefield to declare against Aerys. Swore that I would follow him as my King, that I wouldn't let Lyanna get between us…"

"He was…" Hightower stopped talking.

"Yes."

Rhaegar as a person was very difficult to describe, on one hand he had made some really stupid decisions, such as stationing his best three men with Lyanna Stark when they were sorely needed elsewhere, but on the other hand… Magic was real in Westeros, Valyrian blood was magical blood, and Rhaegar had gotten the strongest dose of that in a long time. It had been… difficult to think of Rhaegar as anything other than a perfect candidate to sit on the Iron Throne, and not only because Rhaegar possessed some good qualities that could make a good King. Even now after his death the magic lingered. If you read between the lines, it became clear that Daemon Blackfire had possessed some of that magic too, and to know what that could do to someone even after source of the magic died, one only needed to look at Bittersteel. And Rhaegar had managed to dazzle many, if not most of the people he ever met…

Yeah, Robert would really have to become an official Targaryen if he wanted to rule Westeros. Even then some would want to rally for little Jaehaerys, but not as many as if he became King Robert of House Baratheon instead of House Targaryen.

"And now he's dead." Was Hightower going to cry?

Aw, fuck. Robert knew only one way to deal with grief – hugging, cuddling and crying in the arms of family and friends, however, that was not Westeros-approved. He grabbed for the pitcher filled with a hard liquor of a good quality (good for headaches after long days).

"Here." He pressed a full glass (elegant Myrish ware) into Hightower's hand. "To Rhaegar." Robert then said, lifting his own glass up.

"To Rhaegar!"

They sat quietly together for some time.

"He would have made a good King." Hightower finally said.

Maybe, maybe not. Robert thought to himself. Who knew what would have happened with Rhaegar on the throne. But he had been family and a young man robbed of his future though the dumb war his father started.

"A man I could proudly call cousin."

"You did." Hightower even managed to give half a smile to Robert. "Often and loudly if I remember correctly."

Robert huffed in fake indignation. So what? He had been young, and the magic had hit him hard… Robert smiled back.

"Those were better times, mother, father and Rhaegar still alive..." Until Aerys killed them all, more or less directly. His parents in Volantis – stabbed by assassins – and Rhaegar on the battlefield, through Robert's own hand…

He took a large sip of the alcohol, closed his eyes, and tried to concentrate on the burn in his mouth and throat, not in his eyes.

"I heard that Tywin Lannister is a prisoner now…" Thank the gods for Gerold Hightower.

"He had the gall to send his men to kill Elia, Rhaenys and Aegon, and then to present me their corpses as if they were fine gifts."

"He will die for that." Hightower was very angry, but not a hot-headed anger, good!

"Yes, there will be a trial for all of them." Should he? Could he?

"I will wait until all of the King's Guard is in fighting shape and only then hold the trials. All Lannister men are in complete isolation now, and each will have a trial of their own." Robert paused. "I hope you and your brothers will agree to fight them if it should come to a trial of combat…"

"It will be our greatest pleasure." Hightower agreed on the spot.

"Good. My plan is that shortly before their trial an informant will come to them. He will tell them that every one of the old King's Guard is dead and that there are rumours that I am unfit to fight. This impression won't be invalidated during the trial, I'm sure they will all want a trial by combat."

"Are they allowed to take the Black?"

"Tywin and Jaime aren't. The others may, their crimes are lesser, and did not involve the royal family directly."

They talked for a long time, as predicted, and Robert was glad. There weren't many who grieved for Rhaegar, for the person, who had not been perfect, but who had been his family.


	3. III

_Tags at the beginning of the story, and on AO3._

III.

During the following days the complains the guards before Jaime's cell brought before him became so numerous Robert had to deal with the problem. Apparently, Jaime was screaming and begging the guards to be allowed to speak to him – Robert.

Thus, Robert went to speak with Jaime, taking with him a group of guards, Gerold and Barristan.

Jaime looked – well – he looked younger than he did in the throne room (the armour was probably making him look older and now he was without it). Furthermore, Jaime looked not well, a bit dishevelled and – frantic, to be honest.

"King Robert you came… You actually came…" mumbled Jaime.

"Yes. You wanted to speak to me, so speak!"

"I did. But not to beg for my life, if you feared that. I know that- That doesn't matter. No, I wanted to warn you my King."

Begging for his life? The trial hadn't been held, the sentence hadn't been passed yet… And how arrogant of Jaime to think he could actually have some information Robert didn't know. To warn him, he scoffed silently…

"Warn me? Is someone plotting to kill me?" And you noticed it from your cell, Robert added in his head.

"Oh no… No…"

Jaime came nearer, until Robert could feel his body heat. Robert saw from the corner of his eyes how the two King's Guards he brought with him shuffled uneasily. And Jaime's behaviour made Robert himself a bit uneasy, it was clear that the isolation hadn't been good for Jaime at all. (But he felt no guilt, no, not at all. Not for ordering the torture of somebody, nope.)

"It's about something I know from before. It's not an immediate threat, not if the city still stands, but in the future… My King, there are several large caches of wildfire hidden around the city. Aerys had the alchemist make them, he wanted to burn down King's Landing."

That wasn't news to Robert, but it was to all the others in the room. Still Robert was a bit surprised, he hadn't forgotten it, but neither had he considered it when dealing with the death of Aerys and Jaime's role in it. Had he suppressed the knowledge?

"Well, let's say I believe you. How did you gain that knowledge, and do you know where the caches are hidden?" He asked Jaime.

"I think one is under the Red Keep and one under Sept of Baelor, but I don't really know where they are."

"And how did you know that?"

"Aerys commanded the fire's to be lit. Then I…" Jaime paused. How old was he again? Robert asked himself.

"Ned said Aerys, his hand and a group of other alchemists were all dead in the throne room… So, you killed them all?"

"Yes. And failed Rhaegar, shouldn't have done that."

Done what? Killing Aerys (Jaime raised his unworthy hand and saved thousands) or not keeping Elia and the children safe (that was what Rhaegar asked of Jaime in the books, wasn't it)?

What a fucked-up situation, fuck, this must change some of Robert's plans. A situation which shouldn't happened at all, because Robert prided himself of remembering quite much from canon, and always using that knowledge in decisions. And now?

"Well, this is too great a threat to ignore, even if it is not a real threat at all. Barristan bring Jaime to another cell, a guest quarter that can be easily guarded should do. And look that his needs are met. Then come and find me. Gerold, I want you to take at some men, from the Stormlands and the North and King's Landing and begin to search in the tunnels under the city. Begin in the Red Keep, then under the Sept, then the rest of the city. If you find Wildfire immediately send a runner to me, and stay there until I come with a guard for the place. I will inform the Lords and Ladies who live here and then begin to assemble a detail for any caches we find to deal with them."

His commands were carried out swiftly. Nobody objected. The first cache, under the Red Keep, was found swiftly. Robert stationed 10 guards, who would be rotated every 6 hours and went with Gerold to search for others. It was a long day, they had found nine or ten caches, but to be sure those were all of them, Robert would have somebody do a complete search in all the tunnels and canals of the canalisation (an added benefit would be that it would let him know in what shape the canalisation was).

In the evening he went to Jaime once more. Robert hadn't decided yet what to do with him, but he knew he couldn't kill him. Jaime would become a folk hero for sure, and (unless Robert had dragons to command) killing him would be courting another rebellion.

This time only Gerold was accompanying him. Gerold had brought a plea before Robert, he wanted to speak to Jaime first, claimed he had questions for him. Robert allowed it, this confrontation would be interesting and it gave him more time until he had to decide on Jaime's fate.

The guards let them inside the room which was a vast improvement above the small chamber Jaime was in before. Jaime himself, however, didn't look much better. He was cleaner for sure, and in fresh clothes, but he wasn't- groomed.

There were several stools in the room, Robert sat on the one directly across from the one Jaime was currently sitting in. Gerold continued to stand.

"The Lord Commander has some questions for you, afterwards we will talk further." With that, Robert gave Gerold leave to speak to Jaime.

Gerold frowned, now that Robert was thinking about it, he had looked rather unhappy the whole day. Fuck, maybe it had been a bad idea to let them speak to each other, Jaime was clearly in a bad place, and Gerold too…

Gerold turned around with jerky movements, most likely looking out of the window, then he began to speak.

"You swore your vows to defend your King before me. I thought you a true knight, how could you break that vow? How could you kill the King you were sworn to protect, even if that King… We knights- we, the King's Guards- we aren't the Kings judge, nor are we entitled to be his jury. We obey, we don't-"

"And which vows did you want me to follow?" Jaime interrupted Gerold's rant at this point. Robert turned his head as fast as he could, observing Jaime closely. He expected a sneer, but he saw nothing but insecurity and helplessness.

"The one to protect innocents or the one to obey the King? You and your "we only obey", … All the while standing by and doing nothing when Aerys raped and abused the Queen- Night after night, doing nothing and listening…" Jaime's voice broke and he began crying.

Gerold's face was like stone, hard and unmoving, but his voice betrayed his misery. "Jaime- They were legally married. Even if he wasn't the King, no court would sentence him for what he was doing." Gerold took a deep breath, and Robert used the opening in the conversation to say something.

"I can't do much about things that have already happened, but I can promise both of you this: I will change the laws, so that nobody who rapes another is exempt of the law. I will do everything so that no other King's Guards have to do what you had to."

Robert had been prepared that he would be King someday, and had thought about the changes he could make, changing laws, his Charta… His hand trembled. Changing the law so that martial rape was punishable would be a pleasure.

Robert looked up, when had he lowered his head? Jaime and Gerold were looking at him in surprise, and tears still glittered in Jaime's lashes, but he looked better.

"There will be laws and lines that even Kings can't cross." He gripped the bridge of his nose, at spike of pain he felt. Was he getting a headache? Fuck, hopefully not.

During his contemplation of a possible headache, Jaime must have moved, because now he was gripping Robert's knee, kneeling on the floor, once again crying, mumbling one "thank you" after another "thank you".

When Robert got the urge to hug Jaime he followed it, moving to the floor too, and gripping him tight.

As Robert held a crying Jaime in his arms, he felt the rest of his anger at him disappear, this was probably the starkest reminder he ever had of his own power over canon. Canonically Jaime was to become an arrogant knight, who didn't believe in knighthood, and not this broken mess… And Robert began to feel bad, he had tortured him, had thought to kill him for trying to defend a city full of people. This man, more boy than man really, had saved thousand of people, and Robert wanted to kill him for doing that? Well no, of course that wasn't what he had been doing. It was just that he had strangely forgotten about Jaime's good deeds, if he had remembered, he would have acted differently.

As Jaime calmed down and Gerold stared listlessly or in deep thought at the wand Robert thought about the situation, about what he should do with Jaime. A case could be made that killing the King was self-defence. And well… Nobody, even if they were a King should ever be above the law, he had just said, no promised that to the two knights. But-

He faltered, had he just used that sort of argument? How had it come to a point where he could say a but after "nobody is above the law"? That was one of the core principles he believed in!

Nobody was above the law. Everybody was the same before the law. The next one was… Was… Ah, yes: Power is best limited and spread out, not concentrated and absolute.

"My King?" Jaime interrupted Robert's thought process, looking a bit embarrassed. Robert chuckled and hugged him tight, then let Jaime go.

"It's late. We should retire and be assured, both of you, that I will think about what you talked about. Hopefully I can do something about the mess we find ourselves in."

Neither Jaime nor Gerald spoke, so Robert went to his rooms and bade his men to stand guard before the door. He needed a bit privacy to think about- where had he been?

Ah yes, about finding a more stable alternative to concentrated absolute power in the hands of a family with the tendency to produce insane members. As soon as he was King, that would mean-

Huh? Well, he had found the root of the problem. Intellectually he still believed that third principle, but the feelings when he had as he thought about it… The fear and greed he felt when he thought about limiting his power once he was King. He felt as if Aerys had the right to burn down King's Landing, thousands of people, because he was their King and as such, he owned them.

Robert stifled his laughter. What was wrong with him? He could barely believe that he had just thought that, Aerys had been a mad King, somebody who should have never had that power.

He went into bed, and as always, slid off the gold ring his mother had gifted him. You could open the crest on it, outside it showed the stag of the Baratheons, inside the crest of the Targaryens. He and his parents (and his brothers probably too) felt more like belonging to that house and not to the Baratheons, dragons who couldn't show their true beings…

His thoughts became more sluggish as he began to slip into sleep. Targaryen, the house of the insane Kings… Now mostly gone thanks to the Lannisters. Sadly, he didn't have dragons, they would surely have so pretty flames. Normal fire would surely never look so good as dragon fire… Fire was Aerys thing too, he mustn't forget that. Robert should find a better method to kill his enemies…

And then he saw it: All his enemies, hundreds of people screaming, Robert looking down on them as his executioner learned how to elegantly carve them up into blood eagles, no better call the method blood dragon. He felt great, power rushing through him and strengthening him, one drop of blood after another, all just for him, their blond hair matted with their own blood. He was King, all powerful, and-

Robert woke up alarmed. Had he just dreamed that? He felt sickened by those thoughts, now matter how good it had felt to imagine himself as someone so powerful.

He wasn't a person who wanted to do such things, no! He wasn't insane… He would never kill people just because he felt as if they had done something wrong… Only, hadn't he just basically tortured someone he knew was sort of not guilty, and wanted them dead. Had made plans on how to kill them just so, that there would be minimal consequences and everyone happy about him having killed an evil man. And why? -

By the gods old and new! What where his reasons? It couldn't have been just because it would give him more power when he would become King? That was the reasoning of a power mad person, and he, he wasn't… He couldn't be… No…

Deep breaths… And some water… He felt tired, but didn't think that he could sleep again.

Was insane, power mad, a description that applied to Robert? Now, as he was examining his own choices in the last few weeks and months, he would have to say yes. Or maybe not, or not like some other Targaryens had been mad. He did not think that burning himself or drinking wildfire would turn him into a dragon.

No, not that. But he wasn't really sane either, was he? He had behaved irrationally, ignored truths he knew (and people – Jaime -suffered for it), and the future interpretation of the might and rights of a ruler he had worked to establish (however subconscious) … A world where a King or Queen could burn down a city and nobody, but family, was allowed to judge them for it. A world where the rulers were far above the law. A world he had been building step by step.

When had it gone wrong? As the Lord of Storm's End Robert had built orphanages and schools, he had followed Aegon the Fifth's laws even if they had been cancelled for years at that point and he had tried to make people equal before the law. Amongst other actions.

And now?

Gods, why hadn't Ned told him he was behaving strange? He had been talking about killing Tywin because he had harmed royals. Wasn't that basically the same crime Ned's brother had been accused of by Aerys?

Robert shuddered, would he become a second Aerys? His morals eaten up by the allure of absolute and tyrannical rule over his people? Please not, the gods protect him. At least Robert did not have the power of a dragon. That was good. But even so, the power he commanded was so great…

How long would it be until he would act like he had since Rhaegar died and not find the actions reprehensible? (How long until the next rebellion?)

Could he abdicate? Not really, Stannis wasn't Robert, Viserys and Renly too young (and Robert knew his maybe-future), and there were no other feasible heirs to the throne…

Were those thoughts even his sane ones? Does he want to convince himself that he needed to become King?

Destroy the Iron Throne and dissolve the Kingdom of Westeros? That would make dealing with the White Walkers even more difficult, and the survival of his people even more unlikely than it was in canon…

There were obviously a set of measures Robert would need to implement, measures he was not thinking about with immense success so far.

Furthermore, wasn't this situation – right after the reign of an insane and uncontrolled King – the ideal time to install those measures? Weren't his fears of his and his heir's future actions almost ideal examples why large and concentrated amounts of power were a bad idea and that the power would always be abused by someone?

This was likely why constitutions were invented and why his old world had the separation of powers.

Robert would need to limit his power, he shuddered. Not much, of course, there was the coming Long Night to consider. But there needed to be some sort of checks and balances, he had it all planned out, just in case… However, he had already intentionally not thought of important things, just to justify his treatment of Jaime (a mistake he would need to atone for), he had gone slightly power mad for weeks or months without him noticing. He would need to do something drastic, and do it soon, there needed to be a emergency plan if Robert ever got the full Targaryen madness…

The sun began creeping over the horizon, soon Robert would have to get up, deal with people and preparing for his coronation. And all that after a night with almost no sleep, with questions still in his mind. Was he or would he go insane? How much could he trust himself with the power he yielded and would yield? What-

Luckily, he was saved from further introspection by his personal servant. Was it already time?

"Lord- King Robert, ships have been sighted with Velaryon colours. They will be here in about an hour."

Velaryons? Interesting. And now he had even more questions he could ponder, fun.

 _Is my comparison between Robert and Aerys too heavy handed?_


End file.
